I am not ready to commit to a specific train for this route, though there is currently a 29 Euro Sparpreis.
If I wing it, and don't book this journey ahead of time, what is the point-to-point price I am likely to face the day of travel?
On the Die Bahn site I only see the 29 Sparpreis and a ~60 Euro Normalpries. Is there in fact another price in between the two?
Have you checked whether your airline offers Rail&Fly tickets? This would be the best choice.
The price on the day of travel will be the "Normalpreis" (in theory, you might be lucky and get a Sparpreis ticket a few hours before the trip on the day of travel, but that is not often the case and even if it is, buying after your landing in FRA would be too late).
There is one other option, which is to use only local trains. I do not think the savings are worth the additional travel time and less comfortable trains.
Thank you!
With Rail and Fly do I need to select a specific train, or is it open (so that I can pick any train on the day of travel)?
If you look up the price for the next train on the DB website ( https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml ) it will show the price you pay on the day. The website defaults to current time and date, so just "Frankfurt(M)Flughafen" to "Baden-Baden" and hit "Search".
I just tried it, and the next few trains say: "No special fares available 47,00 EUR".
I looked at the details, and it says:
"2. class Flexpreis. Flexible travel. Unrestricted choice of trains on day of travel. Cancellation before first day of validity free."
1st class is 67,90 EUR
Rail & Fly is flexible - you can pick any train on the day the flight arrives and the day after. I don't even think you have to state your destination; it is good for any destination in Germany.
Thank you both!!
Now I know how to find "regular"/ day of fares, AND I have learned about Rail & Fly!
So the happy outcome for my situation is: I buy Rail & Fly through my Condor ticket, and I get to pick the best rail journey for me once I arrive, AND I can now take a 40 Euro journey for just the 29.99 Rail & Fly price. Score!!!
